Support for Students' Learning and Personal Development
Cressex is widely recognised as providing very high quality individual support for students.
When they arrive at Cressex, students are allocated to a tutor group, which remains their “base” during their time at school. Form tutors develop strong relationships with the students in their group and have a major influence on their learning and personal development. Tutor groups are made up of students in their respective Years, enabling students to support, work with and learn from each other. It has proved very beneficial in enhancing further the strong sense of community at Cressex. The tutor groups are part of a House system to facilitate student support and healthy competition among students. There are 5 Houses aimed at forging inclusion and identity across the whole school: Everest, K2, Nevis, Olympus, and Snowdon.
Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) is taught according to a well-planned programme. Some sessions are delivered in tutor time, while others take place during timetabled lessons and occasional off-timetable days. The latter usually deal with those areas of PSHE best taught to age specific groups of students.
Alongside the form tutors, we have a number of other key staff in our pastoral support structure.
The Key Stage Leader and Heads of Year are responsible for overseeing the academic progress and personal development of students in the year groups assigned to them.
Working alongside the Heads of House are the Pastoral Support Officers (PSOs), whose role is to help students overcome barriers to learning such as difficulties with personal organisation and social, emotional or behavioural issues. PSOs often act as the first point of contact between the school and home.
We value good attendance as we know that it promotes high educational achievement. The school Attendance Manager monitors student attendance closely and follows up any unexplained absences.
The Deputy Headteacher with responsibility for Assessment, Reporting, Recording and Intervention maintains a close scrutiny of students’ academic progress and coordinates a staged programme of interventions to ensure that students stay on track to achieve their academic goals. He is supported in this role by the Assistant Headteacher with responsibility for Attendance, Behaviour and Student Voice.
Medical care for students is provided by the School Matron. The matron is based in the well-equipped medical room and is responsible for:
- maintaining the school’s records regarding students’ health
- first aid
- administering medication with the consent of parents/ carers
- providing basic health-related advice to students
We also draw on the support of outside agencies such as Adviza, WYA and the Police, who have identified staff working closely with us.
